“Why do I need speech therapy, I speak just fine?” Find out why and how speech therapy plays an important role in treating people with brain injury and how we collaborate with mental health professionals to address mental health within our scope. This presentation will include a basic overview of the thinking processes involved in everyday life. We will discuss evidence-based therapy techniques to promote patient-centered care that optimize recovery and empower the person with brain injury and their family to advocate for what is most meaningful for them. We will discuss tools that providers and survivors can use to increase insight and better incorporate recommendations from the entire treatment team.

Upon completion of this session, you will leave able to:

1) Identify cognitive and executive functions related to brain injury addressed in speech therapy treatment and therapeutic skills related to memory and executive function to facilitate an environment that optimizes improvement within the context of patient -centered care.; and,

2) Identify tools to improve metacognitive thinking skills and awareness during therapy to optimize success and also identify common mental health concerns related to brain injury.